A Different Side of the Same Coin
by AnthonyRidad
Summary: Pyrrha Nikos awakens in a field of green, her memories ajar. In the distance she sees a city, suspended in the sky. She finds herself in a world similar, but different.


_**AN:** I am sorry if you are a subscriber of Dust Based Thaumaturgy, but that story is on an indefinite hiatus. I felt like I wrote myself to a wall in the final chapters and I wasn't too happy with how the story progressed. I may end up continuing it at some point in the future, or even just rewrite it completely. I still really like the premise and how I handled some things. _

_The truth is, I struggled writing the last chapter of that fic because I was going through some things at the time. Girlfriend of three years broke up with me, among other things, and I've recently been drifting about, not really know what I want to do with my life. If anything, this fic is my attempt to get back to writing fiction. Haven't really written any fiction since July. So I might be a bit rusty.  
_

* * *

 **ONE**

Pyrrha awoke with a startled start. She rose in the grass in a prone, resting Milo, in its javelin form, on her forearm. Akouo was nowhere to be found, but she ignored the fact for now and instead focused her attention on her surroundings.

She was in an open field. Mountains rose in the distance, and she could spot the faint lights of a city to her right. It took her only a few moments to realize that something was very wrong.

She was dressed in jeans, wearing an off the shoulder red coat. Her hair was loose and she did not wear her circlet. Pyrrha lifted her had and noticed a cufflink on her sleeve. The insignia of a burning red tree was inscribed on it, a symbol completely unfamiliar to her.

The weapon in her hand was not Milo. It was a short spear that resembled ancient Mistralian design, much like Milo, but it lacked Milo's mechanisms and golden furnish. It was simply crimson, with a blade with the letters "PN" inscribed upon it.

"Pyrrha Nikos." She mused, smiling.

Almost by instinct, she fished in her pocket for her Scroll, but instead found nothing but a handkerchief and a wallet. Opening her wallet she found an ID bearing her face and name, two credit cards, and paper bills that were definitely not Lien.

"In Sovereignty We Trust." The bills read. They bore the face of an unfamiliar, bearded man who stared at the distance with a look of determination.

The bank names on her credit cards were also unfamiliar to her.

Panic began to set in, but her own control of her emotions prevented it from worsening. As she started to walk toward the distant city, she flipped open the wallet completely and read the ID within. If it was even _her_ wallet in the first place.

"Pyrrha Nikos," it read. _Yes. That is definitely me._ "Second Year Student. His and Her Majesty's, Centarion Soldier's Academy. 8th Capitum, Genevede City, Genevede."

Few of the words made sense to her.

Why was she a second year student?

What was the Centarion Soldier's Academy?

Where was the 8th Capitum?

Where was Genevede?

Who was she?

What was happening?

Questions threatened to overwhelm her. She fell on the grass kneeling, her hands shaking and her mind struggling to comprehend. This wasn't Beacon. This wasn't even Remnant. The word "Genevede" or "Capitum" never once appeared in the maps.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think.

A festival. The Vytal festival. Ramen. A tournament. Blake, Yang, Weiss, Ruby. Nora. Ren.

Jaune.

Her eyes slowly opened. Her scholar's mind raced, trying to suppress the panic in her heart.

"Where am I…?"

She could not remember anything beyond… beyond watching Emerald and Mercury's fight with Coco and Yatsuhashi. After that, there was nothing. Nothing but blank page after blank page.

She forced her heart to steady as she slowly rose to her feet. The city wasn't very far. Perhaps she could find answers there.

Genevede was apparently a city in the skies. On her way to the metropolis proper she crossed a bridge, but instead of water beneath it, she saw a rolling sea of white clouds. The bridge connected the island she came from and one of the many islands that kept the city afloat.

The city itself was a lot like Vale, if not, to her surprise, a bit larger. Students and workmen walked the streets, dressed in their uniforms. Unfamiliar-looking cars hummed on the roads. And policemen, walked about, some armed with swords, and others with rifles.

Pyrrha considered approaching a policeman, but eventually decided against it. If she wasn't straight with her story and couldn't answer their questions properly, they might mistake her for a lunatic and arrest her. Instead, she continued to walk through the city aimlessly. She read the signs of stores and shops, taking in the city's atmosphere.

Soldiers patrolled the streets, walking about in groups of four to ten. While the policemen and women wore white and red vests, the soldiers wore full plate, in colors of grey and blue. Yet despite the strong presence of soldiers, the people didn't seem to mind. Genevede, Pyrrha found, was a quiet city.

She headed into the busier parts of the city, looking for something in particular. There were no Faunus around anywhere. This didn't come much of a surprise to her. She already realized that she was in another world. Just how different this world was, would still be left to inspection.

She eventually arrived at the one place she was looking for.

A library.

She stepped through the double doors and entered a grand library, eight floors in height. Looking up she saw balconies stretching to the ceiling, with rows upon rows of books that seemed to go on forever. Banners hung on the balconies, showing emblems of what she assumed to belong to the city's ruling elite.

She wasn't asked to surrender the spear that hung on her back, so she crept forward.

Students of various ages sat and walked about, along with other civilians. She spotted the occasional person, idly taping away on what looked like Scroll terminals. No one paid her any mind as she walked up the staircase leading to the second floor. Pyrrha passed sections labeled history and geography, literature and language. For now, she headed to a section filled with magazines and newspapers.

She practically snatched a broadsheet from the shelves, earning the glare of a few people nearby.

Genevede. 8th and 9th Capitum. King Ardrian and Queen Miromi Knightstein. The Arrival of the Messengers. The Gate of Damocles. Advertisements for weapons and armor. A case study on Sorcery and Witchcraft—

"Sorcery and Witchcraft?" she said aloud, raising her eyebrow.

She flipped to the page featuring the study, reading its contents. The world held no mention of Auras or Grimm, and instead spoke about mana, Constructs, Wars, Animus, and Evertos. Most of the words made little sense to Pyrrha, but their context was easy to decipher. She studied the piece intently. From what she gathered, humans were either born with one of three powers, two of those being either Sorcery or Witchcraft.

Pyrrha took a nervous step back and stared at her palm.

She glanced around nervously, looking for something metallic. She saw a vending machine nearby and approached it, closing the broadsheet and holding it with her other hand.

She watched her surroundings as she stared at the cans inside, then, very subtly, pointed her hand toward the glass. Pyrrha activated her Semblance. She never knew how to describe how she did it, but it always felt as natural as breathing.

Nothing happened.

Not a single can moved beyond the glass.

Furrowing her brows, she tried again, focusing harder.

Still, nothing happened.

"Uhm, miss. What are you doing?" a girl called from her right. Pyrrha yelped, turning to face a girl a few years older than her. "Are you trying to Vector those cans out of that machine?" the girl smiled.

"What no?" Pyrrha laughed nervously. "I was just—"

 _Testing if I still had my semblance._

"—checking if the machine, uhm, accepted cards."

The girl shook her head and walked up to Pyrrha.

"You 8th Capitums and your credit cards." She shook her head and placed a few bills into the machine. After pressing a button, a can fell out from the machine, into a silver tray underneath it. But instead of leaning down and grabbing it, the girl only aimed her hand at the can. Pyrrha felt something in the air, as the can flew from the tray into the girl's hand.

The girl popped open the can and started drinking, stopping only when she noticed Pyrrha's wide-eyed stare.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

Instead of answering, the girl only rolled her eyes and stalked away. "I don't know what game you're playing, but I have to get back to my boyfriend. See ya."

She left, leaving a confused Pyrrha on her own.

Pyrrha frowned and returned to the news section.

 _What did that girl say before?_ She thought, looking ahead toward a pillar that ran from the topmost floor to the first. _Vector?_

A black circle appeared on the pillar, right in front of Pyrrha. Pyrrha stood to a stop, surprised by the sight. But before she could reach for her spear, she felt a force tug her forward. She flew toward the wall in a sudden jolt, her heels leaving the floor. She held up her hands by instinct as she slammed on the concrete. She tried to push away from the wall, but it was as if the black circle had tied thousands of ropes around her body, dragging her toward it.

The people around her stared, confused, no one showing any signs of concern.

"No magic in the library, please." A voice on the intercom said, slightly annoyed.

 _Wait. She was doing this?_

Pyrrha frowned, glaring at the wall. Her mind paced, thinking of ways on how she could stop this— spell— from doing whatever it was doing, when suddenly, the circle disappeared. Her thought of "stopping" the spell was enough to cancel it.

It felt as natural as using her Semblance.

"What a weirdo." Coughed one of the people around her, as he buried himself in a book.

Pyrrha turned beat red and gently walked away from the pillar, hastily returning the broadsheet back in its place. She walked toward a random section of the library, deep in thought.

 _So. Spells. That's what Semblances are called here. But didn't that girl do something similar? Maybe it's less of a Semblance and more of an Aura…_

She scuttled into a random spot between two bookshelves, pretending to browse. In reality she just wanted to hide for a bit. What happened was embarrassing, regardless of who she was.

 _If so, then I have to learn what I can do. I probably can't control metal anymore, but that spell I performed, Vector—_

A circle appeared on a book in front of her. It lurched toward her, but her honed reflexes allowed her to catch the book in her hand.

— _is close enough._

She flipped the book, looking at its covers.

"The Sorcerer's Large Rod" it said. The cover was nothing more but a zoomed-in image of a shirtless man and his toned chest. Pyrrha paled, suppressed a yelp, and immediately moved to return the book to its shelf.

"Man, Pyrrha, it looks like Blake is rubbing off on you in a _very_ bad way."A familiar voice said.

Pyrrha turned.

Blonde hair, long enough to reach her hips. Vibrant,violet eyes filled with life. She was dressed in jeans and a crop top that revealed her stomach. Pyrrha rushed toward the girl, hugging her, much to Yang's… or whoever this was, surprise.

"Uh, Pyrrha are you okay?"

Pyrrha ignored her words and hugged her tight.

She pulled away, holding Yang's right hand in her own. She stared at her friend's fingers. A knot formed in Pyrrha's stomach for a reason she could not explain. Tears appeared in her hands, falling from her cheeks. Yang was here. Yang was—

"Pyrrha?" Yang's voice was full of concern.

Pyrrha's tears fell silently on the library's marble floor.

Yang was here.

Yang knew her.

They were friends in this place.

In the turmoil of her arrival, in the madness of everything that has happened in the past hour, the sight of her old friend was like a beacon in the dark. She would find out what was happening.

But for now, this was enough.


End file.
